Always
by DamonsImpala
Summary: He was always with her. No matter where he was before, or after he found her. He had always been with her. Maybe that was why his teachers always said he was miles away, because he wasn't where he was supposed to be, so his heart led him there. NinaXEddie. One-shot. NOT MY STORY! All reviews are forwarded to PhantomofDeath99 who is the author.


"Nina, dear, phone!" Nina slowly dragged herself from her perch on the leather armchair, walking towards the kitchen with a small, polite smile on her face. "Did they say who it is?" She enquired. Rufus, apparently, had a random group of followers, less organised than the teachers, but just as creepy. They all wore the same jackal masks, the mock masks of Anubis that had nearly killed her. It felt, in most ways, that they were not just part of the group costume, that the masks were specifically made to taunt her, to mock her and remind her of her failures, her mistakes…the murder. Though everyone might say she hadn't meant to do it, that it was all Senkhara, it didn't stop her feeling guilty. Feeling responsible. Trudy patted her shoulder, a curious look on her face as she repeated the name the man had given; "Johnston Mitchell?" "Oh!" She squeaked, rushing to the phone with a slightly wider grin as she recalled her…well, she supposed, ex-neighbour. After all, she basically lived in England and one couldn't have a neighbour in another country. "John?" She beamed, before hearing the muffled hello that dampened her mood. "John what's wrong? What happened?" John was not only Nina's neighbour, but recently, since her Gran moved back to America by herself despite Nina's efforts to go with her, had been taking care of her stubborn Grandmother. Eddie appeared in her peripheral vision, looking at her with the same curious expression Trudy had. 'Who?' he mouthed, gesturing to the phone as Nina mouthed back 'a friend'. "John? John!" A deep gush of air was exhaled into the receiver in what sounded like his rendition of a sigh. "What about her?" Her smile fell completely off her face, a look that read 'train-wreck' painted over it instead. "She's—she's….? Are you—you sure?" She frowned at her own stupidity. There was no way he was mistaken. John was rarely ever wrong in general, but over such a serious matter he would never joke. Placing a hand over her head in a less than violent face-palm she inhaled sharply as Eddie shrugged his shoulders, walking over to the door, ready to leave before the next few words startled him; "She's dead then. For sure? Yeah….no, I'm fine." Eddie spun around so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash as he glanced at Nina's clearly tearless face. There were no tears in her eyes, nor were they choked back in her voice as she spoke calmly and clearly, instructing the man on the phone to calm down; sounding like she was the one telling him someone died instead of the other way around. It scared him. That she was so collected about it.

"Nina?" He whispered as she smiled weakly at him. 'What?' her expression read as she shrugged her shoulders. She didn't want sympathy. That much was obvious. "Who died, Nina?" "It's nothing, Eddie. Just Gran." Just Gran. _Just Gran!_ Just her freaking _Gran!_ His eyes widened, comically even, as he stumbled over words of shock and utter disbelief. "Your Gran?" She nods, the tears he needed to see earlier still not making an appearance. "What do you mean, 'just Gran', Nina? She's your last piece of family! How are you so calm about this?" Eddie exclaimed, anger running through his voice. "No Eddie! It's no big deal! Because everyone who I ever love dies! They always do! My parents, my best friend, my Gran, my cousins, my Aunt and Uncle died two months after my parents when I stayed with them! And anyone who doesn't die just leaves me! My best friends, Amber, Patricia, Jerome, Alfie, Fabian, you! You're all going to leave me! Fabian just beat everyone to the punch! Nothing good ever happens around me! I'm going to be all alone! I've always been all alone, Eddie! So yes, this is just another funeral! It'll help my organising skills! Maybe that way I'll get to leave and go to some isolated country where no one will ever hear from me again." She roared, muttering the last part to herself as tears began to work their way down their cheeks, searching for a way to escape her burning gaze. But Eddie was stock still. Him? She said she loved him. Sure, she said she loved Amber, Patricia and the others, but she said she loved _him_! "Nina, you've never been alone." "Yes I have!" "No," he spat, forcing her to listen as she looked up from the counter. "You've never been alone." "Why do you think that?" Nina whispered, her voice broken and torn like a child's. "Because even before I found you, I was always with you. I'm always going to _be_ with you." Maybe, he chuckled, that was why his teachers always said he was miles away; because he was never where he was supposed to be, so his heart just led him there. Her eyes glazed over as he stepped forward, pressing his forehead against hers and brushing his hands down her arms to entangle their fingers. His voice was just a hum in the air, lighter than it but heavy with emotion as he mumbled, just barely audible; "Always."


End file.
